On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 18:17:38 +0100, "Oryx"
wrote:

snip In early spring the plant producesnumerous flowers. These consist
of the sepals anthers and stamens but no
petals are produced whatsoever. snip
Is this lack of petals due to the variety of Rhododendron I own or is it
caused either by disease or the conditions in which it grows ?

Chris Hogg wrote in message
...


Nowhere can I find a disease that gives the effects you describe.
Plenty of information on failure to set flowers at all, and
information on buds that set and then go brown and never open, due to
fungus disease (bud blast), and loss of flowers due to damage by
flower thrips (mainly in the US), and petal blight which turns petals
into a brown mess and occurs mainly on azaleas, but nothing about
petal-less flowers. I suppose it's remotely possible that the buds
were damaged at some time over the winter, by frost or insect attack,
but I wouldn't expect all the buds to be affected in the same way, let
alone the seedlings, and your post implies it's a regular occurrence.

I think you've got a rogue. Grub it out (and its offspring) and treat
yourself to a well-behaved modern hybrid. Now's the time to make a
choice, when they're all in flower. It might be wise not to plant it
in exactly the same place though.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Thanks for your reply Chris. I am glad you have confirmed my thoughts that
it isnt likely to be a disease.
Trust me to have a rogue Rhododendron !! I find it interesting that the lack
of petals doesnt seem to affect its reproducing power and you are right - it
has never produced petals since I have inherited it.

I agree that the right thing to do would be to replace it with a flowering
one, however I am loath to get rid of a plant that seems to be thriving.
Some hard decisions are called for I think, :-)

Helen